Cuffed Together
by TheRottenJas
Summary: Hermione had the entire evening planned out just to have it blow up in her face, by one simple action. She was supposed to be paired up with Ron Weasley, but now she's handcuffed to Draco Malfoy as they walk through the test of courage together. It's just her luck, a thunder storm happens to appear at the same time. Muggle!AU Written For: DramioneAdditcion!


**A/N: I really enjoyed this! Who am I kidding? I always love writing about my OTP! I hope you enjoy this, too! Oh, it's obviously Muggle!Au. :)**

 **Written For:**

 **Monthly One-Shot Exchange: Here you go, _DramioneAddiction_! It's your OTP, too! ;)**

 **Pairing: Draco/Hermione; Prompts: 1. Nonchalant (word) 2. "I don't have to like you to love you." (Dialogue) Genre: Romance, Of course!**

 **Ultimate Battle Comp.-For the Weather Full Set: Write about your OTP traveling through unpredictable weather.**

 **Drabble Club: Prompt- Handcuffs**

 **Wordcount: 1, 671**

 **Disclaimer: Nope, don't own it. Never will.**

* * *

"I can _not_ believe I'm stuck with you."

Draco snarled. "Like it's a pleasure for me."

Hermione huffed as she looked at the handcuffs that tied their unfortunate wrists together. She thought she had this entire evening all planned out. She would participate in the annual test of courage, that her school hosted for seniors, so she could end up with her long-time crush. She had even convinced her best friend, Ginny, who was in charge of handing out the matching numbers to rig it. _And_ that took quite a long time since it was her brother who she sort of liked. What she did _not_ expect was for the notorious Draco Malfoy to push Ron out of the way and receive a number. _Her_ number.

"This is all your fault, you know," Hermione said as she watched Ron get paired up with Lavender Brown. It was only her luck, or lack thereof, that she would end up with Draco. He was this rich, handsome boy who was very intelligent and athletic. He had declared himself her rival ever since she transferred schools and beat him in all their exams. She didn't really think much of it then but ever since the teasing started, they've been head to head since.

"Look, Granger," Draco drawled. "I'm going to win this test so stay out of my way."

Hermione looked at him in disbelief. "This isn't a test, Malfoy. It's supposed to be a fun activity to promote unity in our academies. Not some sort of test."

Draco snorted, in an ungentlemanlike manner. "Whichever pair finishes first, gets a reward. I plan to win it. So, I repeat, stay out of my way.."

"Stay out of your way?" Hermione narrowed her eyes menacingly. "We're handcuffed!" She threw her arm in the air to prove her point. "It's not as if I could disappear and reappear whenever I choose to. And if anyone, is going to win it's going to be me. So _you_ stay out of _my_ way!"

They stood glaring at each other for a while before the announcer's voice declared they were going to start the test of courage. The test was to travel through the woods and follow the lights, all while people were trying to scare you, to the ending point. Of course, it was done in the night. She turned her head abruptly and began walking to the starting point. She heard Draco yelp as he was unwillingly pulled along. She smiled when he began to throw out a string of curses, cursing her family and their generations to come.

"Have you always been so _rude_?" Draco asked, he was rubbing his wrist shooting daggers at her. "It's no wonder, you haven't got a boyfriend."

Hermione pointedly ignored him.

"Oh, did I hit a nerve, Granger?" Draco mockingly asked. "The Weasel's getting pretty chummy with Brown over there. It's a pity all men leave you. First Krum then Weasley next it'll be- Ow!"

Hermione had pinched him, _hard_. "Let me explain something to you since you're so incapable of understanding. First, Viktor had to go to Bulgaria! He did not leave me, it wasn't his choice. Second, Ron and I aren't dating, and we never were so you point is invalid."

" _Jeez_." Draco scoffed at her speech. "No need to get your panties in a twist."

She opened her mouth to respond when the bell rang to satisfied herself by glaring at him before she started to run. He easily kept up with her. Darn, his long legs!

"Let's go through there!" He pointed to a place where it was pitch black.

Before she could tell him he was mental, he ran to it. "Ow! Wait, Malfoy!"

She couldn't see where they were going but apparently _he_ could. She saw him slow down and was glad for it. She couldn't really keep up with the football player. He turned and grinned at her as he pointed to a light not far off. Despite herself, she cracked a smile.

" _See_. I told you." He was like a child. Hermione found it rather endearing. It was cute too see him light up that way. Not that she would ever tell him he was cute.

"Okay. You told me so."

Draco smiled but caught himself and scowled at her. "We can walk now."

"Bipolar much?" she muttered.

"What was that?" He stopped and began to listen to silence.

"What was what?" she asked but his hand covered her mouth. She looked at him in outage.

"Listen," he said, whispering. She strained her ears and heard faintly off what seemed to be thunder.

"It's going to rain," she declared. "We should head back."

"And forfeit?" He scoffed. "Not a chance."

"We're going to get drenched!" she said, aware that her voice was getting high pitched.

"Scared, Granger?"

This time it was her turn to snort. "Of course not!"

"Then let's keep going."

She was too stubborn to back down. She clenched her teeth in annoyance. "Fine."

They continued walking in a comfortable silence. It wasn't until it started sprinkling that it broke.

"What did I tell you?" Hermione demanded as a drop hit her in the eye.

"It's only sprinkling." Draco rolled his eyes. "Stop being so dramatic. I bet this is as bad as it'll get."

He was _way_ wrong. They had only walked ten feet when the thunder sounded really close. She stared at him warily and he had the audacity to wave off the thunder. She was about to say something when the rain picked up and soon enough, it was raining buckets.

"This is all your fault!" she screamed through the loud noises of the rain.

"Shut up!" he responded as they tried to find shelter.

"My hair's going to be a mess!" She could already see the frizzness start to appear. All her efforts to calm down her hair for the evening vanished.

He looked at her as if she was mental. "You're worried about that now?"

She sniffed and looked away. "Yes!"

"You're crazy!"

"Says the guy who made us walk into a thunderstorm!"

He was about to retort when a lightning bolt struck a tree nearby. Hermione jumped and unconsciously grabbed Draco's arm.

They held hands and ran for the nearest shelter they could find. Something that wasn't a tree, preferably. They entered a cave, panting out of breath.

"It's all your fault if I get eaten by bear, Malfoy."

"Um er, Hermione?" Draco said, awkwardly.

She looked quizzically at him. Hermione? He never called her by her first name. "Yes?"

"You're still holding my hand…" he trailed off.

She blushed and quickly let go. "Sorry."

"No, it's alright." A pink tinge appeared on his pale cheeks.

She stayed silent for a few moments before inspecting the cave. She laughed out loud as she spotted something in the back.

Draco stared at her in wonder. "What's wrong?"

She wiped tears from her eyes, and pointed straight ahead. In a very large banner, a congratulations sign was hanging on the walls. Under that was a little stuffed bear holding two dinner tickets for the winners of the test of courage.

"So, we won?" Draco asked incredulously.

"I guess so," she said, smiling.

"Wasn't it too easy?"

"I think the people supposed to scaring us left when they heard the first thunder. Perhaps everybody else did, too."

Draco laughed as he walked towards the bear. He held it up playfully, and said in a deep voice. "I'm going to eat you."

She laughed as the bear 'nibbled' on her arm. "Stop, it's ticklish."

He grinned as he put it back on its stance. He tried to appear nonchalant as he held up the tickets. "Well, there's only two tickets. One for you and one for me."

"Yeah…"

"So, I guess it's alright if we got to dinner together?" he asked, looking at everywhere but her. This time his blush became a deeper color. He coughed awkwardly when he finally met her eyes.

She smiled. "I'd love to."

"I'm not asking you because I like you, got that?" he said, looking at the floor.

"Oh, no, I don't think that one bit. I mean I don't like you either," she said, seeing his looked slightly hurt at her words. "It's only convenience, of course."

"Yeah," he agreed rapidly, looking down.

"But then, I don't have to like you to love you." Hermione grinned as he looked up quickly.

"You love me?" he said, his voice cracking at the end. He cleared his throat and spoke in a much deeper voice.. "I mean, you love me?"

"Hmm, I didn't say that," she said, pursing her lips. He looked embarrassed at his words.

"You didn't disagree, either," he pointed that out quickly.

"Can I ask you one thing, Draco?" she asked, looking at him straight in the eyes.

He was taken aback but nodded.

"Why did you tease me?" She tilted her head slightly, showing her confusion.

He grabbed her hands in his, and grinned. "Didn't your mother ever tell you that boys teased the girl they liked?"

Hermione laughed and nodded. "I do believe she's mentioned that before."

"So…." he said, eagerly. "Do you love me?"

"She shrugged. "Maybe or maybe not?"

Draco frowned. "You tease."

She laughed and placed a kiss on his cheek. "I'll tell you at dinner tomorrow."

He smiled and pulled her closer to him. "You know, I've been told I'm a good cuddler. So, feel free to cuddle me while we watch the storm."

She didn't know who leaned in first but their lips were centimeters apart. They leaned in closer and closer till they were almost touching.

"BOOM!"

They jumped in surprise, breaking apart, as the thunder sounded.

"Why don't we survive this storm first?" Hermione said, looking at the night sky.

"Sure," he said, they sat down facing the sky. "We'll have plenty of time for that later."

"Cocky much, Malfoy?" she asked, raising a brow.

"You know you love it."


End file.
